


Flushing: A VE Adventure

by eleanor_lavish, thepsychicclam



Series: Valiant Effort [12]
Category: Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-18
Updated: 2009-07-18
Packaged: 2017-11-28 03:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/669869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eleanor_lavish/pseuds/eleanor_lavish, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepsychicclam/pseuds/thepsychicclam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All good epic stories must include a trek to a far-off land.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flushing: A VE Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> Written by EL.

"When is it due now?"

"By five. I have to get it to his office." Elijah was clutching the disk so tight Dom was sure it would end up with indents shaped like fingers.

"Deep breath, mate. We're fine. The train from Flushing only takes, like, half an hour to Grand Central at this time of day."

"But I still have to print the fucking paper!" Dom could hear the panic in Elijah's voice.

Dom fought the urge to say Well that will teach you to get incredibly drunk and lend out the wrong disk to a guy in fucking Flushing Queens, now won't it, knowing that would just upset Elijah more.

He settled for "You have hours, Lij. No problem." But as they descended into the subway Dom felt his own stomach clench at the idea of missing the deadline. He knew Elijah's professor wasn't too keen on smart-ass drummers to begin with, and Dom also knew that this was partially his fault. He had a vested interest in Elijah passing, no acing this class. If only so they could lord it over pompous assholes everywhere.

"You feeling okay now?" Dom asked as they climbed aboard the 7 to Manhattan.

"No. I still may puke. But I'm chalking it up to nerves this time." He looked at Dom and attempted a smile.

Dom threw an arm around Elijah's neck as they sat on the hard plastic benches and pulled him close enough to feel Elijah's uneven breathing.

Elijah leaned into him and Dom felt him relax just a little. "Thanks for doing this, Dom," he whispered into Dom's neck. "You really got me through this god awful day." He reached over Dom's lap to take his hand and squeeze it tightly.

Dom closed his eyes and planted a soft kiss on the top of Elijah's head, still holding fast to Elijah's hand.

"Any time, love."

*

Elijah turned as he heard Dom explode in giggles. Dom very rarely giggled.

"How many of them are there!?" he asked gleefully. "They're invading! One on every corner!"

"They don't seem to like the look of you, man."

"Ditto. They're fucking scary."

"Dom."

"What?"

"How are old ladies with shopping carts scary?"

"Grans, mate. They live forever. Hardy fucking breed. Never know when a granny gang’s gonna start hitting you with their pocketbooks!"

"."

Dom sighed loudly. "We really need to get you up to speed on your Python, Lij. Seriously. It's a gaping hole in your cultural education."

*

"What the hell are these stores?"

"Which stores?" Elijah was trying to keep up, but the sun was bright in his eyes, and Dom figured Elijah’s brain was still pretty damn foggy.

"'Caldors'? 'Target'? I thought they were just fake commercials." Dom was looking around in confusion. He pulled his jacket tighter around himself to hide the Sex Pistols t-shirt he was wearing, and suddenly felt very out of place. The corner they were standing on looked kind of like New York, but the vibe was completely…off.

"You don't get out of Manhattan much, do you man?” Elijah couldn't help but smile.

"Why bother?"

"Come on. Have you seen any of the US besides Manhattan?"

"Belmont." Damn did Dom love Belmont.

"The raceway!? That's it?"

"Yup."

"We need to get you out more."

*

"If you're going to boot, mate, go between the trains."

Elijah just burrowed his forehead into Dom's leather jacket and groaned.

"'m fine."

"Not convincing, man. At all."

"Not puking between the trains, Dom. Just wish they'd stop moving so damn much.”

Dom chuckled and rubbed his hand in comforting circles over Elijah's back. "If they didn't move so damn much, it would take a lot longer to get there, mate. Seriously. If you need to."

"No."

"Why, may I ask?"

Elijah raised his head just enough to look Dom directly in the eyes. "Because the 7 is elevated out here, and I still have enough dignity not to puke on unsuspecting pedestrians."

"Barely."

*

"At least it's a nice day." Elijah kicked at the curb with his dirty Vans and shot Dom a wan smile as they walked toward the subway.

Dom just glared at him.

"It's really cool of you to come with me, man." He moved closer to Dom and batted his eyes coyly.

"Don't do that."

"What?" He laid his head on Dom's shoulder as they waited to cross Houston. Dom knew it was a miracle Elijah was even upright after last night.

"Cause I can't stay pissed at you when you do that." Dom sighed and rested his head lightly on top of Lijah's.

"I know." Dom could hear the smile in his voice and wished he had the fortitude to kick Elijah in the shins. Instead, he slung his arm low around Lijah's small waist and closed his eyes.

*

"He has your WHAT??"

"My final paper for the class. Lent him the wrong disk. Need to hand it in tomorrow."

Dom would normally have throttled Elijah for being stupid enough to lose his final paper. Their paper, based on how many sleepless nights Dom had stayed up giving advice and edits and encouragement. But Lijah looked so pitiful sitting on the floor of the bathroom, his clothes rumpled and his face slightly green, that Dom found himself fighting the urge to hug him.

"OK." He spoke slowly, like he was talking to a five year old. Which at this moment was not far off base. "Where does this guy live, Lij?"

Elijah looked like he was going to cry.

"Flushing."

"Fucking hell." Dom whacked his head into the tiled wall as Elijah puked in the toilet.

*

"He'd better slow down, or he's gonna regret it in the morning." Orli took up a place against the wall next to Dom and handed him a black and tan in a tall cool glass.

Dom didn't need to ask whom he was talking about. Elijah had been throwing back shots all night with no signs of slowing down. Billy was, at this moment, attempting to get him to take a short break, but Dom and Orli could hear Elijah’s shouts of "I'm fucking DONE, old man! Celebrating my fucking ass off! Go play dad somewhere else."

Dom and Orlando both winced. Billy hated being called dad.

They looked at him sympathetically when he strode over to them a few moments later, looking royally pissed.

"Let him drink his fucking brains out then! I swear, if he's gonna do this at the end of every semester, he'll be lucky to make it to his senior year."

Orli just laughed and pulled Billy into a half-hug, handing him the black and tan. Dom went back to staring at Elijah, who now had his tongue down the throat of a guy twice his size. Fuck that., he thought.

"I'm taking him home."

*

"No, no!" Elijah gave a strangled scream and threw himself headfirst into the couch cushion next to Dom. "We have to look at Marx in relation to socialism as a whole. As a whole. Patterson fucking hates me."

"No more than he hates everyone else in the class, mate.”

Elijah glared at him.

Dom couldn't suppress a grin. "OK, maybe he hates you just a little more. But that's what you get for showing him up in class."

"But you TOLD me."

"I told you he was full of shite, mate. I never told you to tell him that."

Elijah sighed dramatically. "It doesn't matter now. If I don't ace this thing, he's gonna fail me based entirely on attendance."

"Or lack thereof."

"Let's just do this, shall we? Reread page three and tell me what you think."

"Its better, but I think you're still not giving quite the push on The Worker as Social Currency that you need for the stuff on page fourteen."

He looked up to find Elijah grinning at him. "You should enroll, man. You really should. You know this stuff better than I ever will. I'd never have gotten through this class without you."

"Or learned any Ethics, I might add. And no. I have no inclination to spend my days "Prostrate to the higher power" as the Indigo Girls say."

"Since when have you lived your life based on Indigo Girls songs?"

Dom just rolled his eyes. "Mate, you're right. I already know all this shite. So why would I pay money to some institution just so they can tell me what I already know? Let's just get you though this semester, alrigh'? And try to get your brain away from Spinoza. He's hindering you."

Elijah turned into the glow of his iBook and started typing. Dom tried not to notice how the light made his skin glow.

*

"He said that? Seriously?" Dom was staring at Elijah incredulously. "You must have just written that down wrong."

"No, I did not. Patterson said that Spinoza was overrated anyway."

Dom nearly spat his juice across the table. "Mother fu-- he did NOT!"

Elijah watched in fascination as Dom got up and began raging around the tiny kitchen.

"What the fuck kind of education are you GETTING at this school!? Spinoza's overrated… Bet he teaches pure Marx, the fucker. Its all that PC can’t-talk-about-God crap. Bet he doesn't even LOOK at anthropological theory, does he? He's stuck in the philosophical middle ages!"

Dom stopped short and glared at Elijah who was gaping at him.

"What?"

"You know Spinoza?”

"Everyone should read Spinoza. And Marx, as well. Social and economic theories do not exist in a vacuum, as much as philosophers want them to, and you can't ignore one or the other just to suit you."

"How do you know this shit, man?" Elijah was looking at him like he had three heads.

"Spent lots of time at the library. It was warm in there in the winters and I had less of a chance of getting my arse kicked while I was there. Also, it was nice to be able to learn stuff on my own, and not have to take the shite they were teaching at school at face value." He looked at Elijah pointedly.

"OK, fine! Teach me, oh Yoda! Help me bring down The Man through philosophy!"

Dom smiled at him and hit him on the shoulder. Elijah handed him a textbook.

"We're on chapter twelve."

~Fin  



End file.
